Okay, this was one of the hardest lists to come up with for
two reasons. One is that I wasn’t alive in the 1970s and I had to play catch up
with everything that came out, so most of my viewing has been restricted to my
film lover sensibilities of “this is the movie you have to see” just so I could
see what the movies were that changed the game. And there were a LOT of movies
that changed so much. In fact, going back and looking at everything, I know
I’ve caught the major movies and a few cult classics, but I haven’t gotten
through everything. I haven’t seen a lot of John Cassavettes movies and I know
he was hugely influential on that decade. There were tons of fantastic foreign
films that came out that year and I’ve only seen a handful of Bergman and Fellini
films. So while I know this may seem like a pretty generic list, it’s only
because I haven’t been able to immerse myself in the decade as if I was living
in it when they first opened the way I have for the 1990s or the 2000s. For
that reason, I felt I needed to include another list and that was a list of the
movies I felt that I needed to see. There are a few filmmakers that I need to
see their filmography of this decade also, but I’ll just stick with individual
films for now.
The other aspect that made making this list so difficult is
that while I still have seen a lot of movies from the 1970s, there were a LOT
of movies that I had to grudgingly keep off. For example, four of the greatest
comedies ever made came out in the 1970s Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein,
National Lampoon’s Animal House and Monty Python and the Holy Grail...and I
couldn’t find a place for them on the ten best list which REALLY pained me
because I like to get as many of the genres in as I can. Hell, I even had to
leave off movies like Dog Day Afternoon, The Deer Hunter, Patton, Close
Encounters of the Third Kind, The French Connection and that’s just naming a
few. I had to leave off Star Wars. Star Wars, people. THAT hurt. Annie Hall I
hated the first time I saw, but I feel like I should give another chance after
falling in love with Midnight in Paris and realizing that 80s and 90s Woody
Allen movies were, for the most part, really terrible with a few glimpses of
hope here and there. So I felt that I had to make a third list and that would
be my ten personal favorites of the 1970s. Movies that I still go back to over
and over again and get a huge level of enjoyment out of.
But in the end, the movies that made the list were the ones
that not only had the greatest influence on the decade, but also best represented
the new style of filmmaking that was taking place at that time, which seemed to
be a darker, more personal look at disillusionment that embraced a grittier and
more realistic tone of storytelling outside of the grand studio driven
spectacle.
So let’s dive in, for better or for worse, and look at the
movies I felt were the ten best, my ten favorite and the ten movies of the
1970s that I want to see the most.
Ten Best
10. Jaws: Now, there were a handful of really successful movies.
Hell, before this came out, The Godfather, The Exorcist and The Sting had
already done tremendous business. But when Jaws came out, it opened up a whole
new world of filmmaking: the summer blockbuster way. It also introduced us to a
young up and coming auteur named Steven Spielberg, who would go on to being the
most successful director of all time. And from Jaws, how could you expect
anything less. This movie is a masterpiece of terror and tension, but it never
loses sight of its characters or how the menace influences the crowd mentality
in the small New England town of Amity. Sure, Jaws is light entertainment
amidst the seemingly endless amount of “important movies” that came out this
decade like All the President’s Men or Serpico, but Jaws embodies both the
spirit of the entertaining movies of the years before it as well as the realism
of the decade it existed in. And to this day, it is still enjoyed by many
people, so it has become an ageless film.
9. The Exorcist: While Jaws was an expert work of tension,
there was another movie that came out only two years before that I remember
seeing old news reports of people leaving the theater crying because the movie
scared something so deep in them. That movie was William Friedken’s The
Exorcist, based on the hit book by William Peter Blatty. What this movie did
was take a supernatural plot device and portray it in the most realistic manner
possible. The result is quite possible the most terrifying use of subliminal
editing, sound, lighting and camera work of the decade. It was realistic but
felt otherworldly. It was grounded in science but had religious tones all
throughout. It existed as such a contradiction that you weren’t sure what to
believe or not. This would go on to be one of the most influential horror
movies of all time and remains a fantastically told story about faith.
- Every time I talk about this movie, I like to note as to
how the movie takes a whole other turn when you find out that William Peter
Blatty and Shirley MacLaine were best friends and about the time that she had
to leave set and go into retreat, a year later, Blatty releases the book of The
Exorcist. Not only that, but if you really watch Ellen Burstyn’s performance as
well as how her make-up/costumes are done, she was clearly made to look like
MacLaine. That’s when the movie REALLY begins to feel unsettling.
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: You want a movie that
embodies the fight the power anti-establishment mentality of the 70s, look no
further than this brilliantly crafted movie. This is arguably Jack Nicholson’s
best performance and quite possibly the best performance of the entire cast,
which includes Brad Douriff, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd
and Scatman Crothers. Nicholson is sentenced to be committed to a mental
institution for psych evaluation and instantly begins to butt heads with the
floor nurse, played by Louise Fletcher. This is a movie that was flawlessly
executed by everyone involved, cast and crew, and also managed to embody the
rebellious attitude of the late 60s/early 70s and it also asks the question:
who gets to define what crazy is? When do we stop trying to get people to
conform to normal and let the weird people celebrate their individuality?
Besides, if being normal means that you have to be like Nurse Ratchett, then
why bother?
7. Nashville: Sure, M*A*S*H* is the more enjoyable film and
probably the more recognized of Robert Altman’s movies, but the definition of
what an Altman movie wasn’t fully on display until Nashville. This movie broke
new ground with its overlapping dialog and its multi-character storyline and
movies haven’t been the same since. As this movie captured the entire setting
for the Nashville music scene, it also captured a political setting as well,
showing how the two worlds of entertainment and politics are so intertwined.
Then tie the whole thing together at the end with the performance of one song?
This is truly one of the best films ever made and should be used by anyone as
THE reference material for making an ensemble piece. Not to mention, this is
the film that Robert Altman truly defined his style as a filmmaker and would
forever influence the way movies were made.
6. Chinatown: You ever see a movie that is just flawless? I
mean, every shot is perfectly blocked, performed, lit, designed, scored and
executed? Well, that’s Chinatown. Everything from the ground up about this
movie is perfect. From Robert Towne’s incredibly original story and witty
screenplay to Roman Polanski’s perfect direction of every scene, from the
flawless capturing of 1930s Los Angeles to the hauntingly memorable score by
Jerry Goldsmith. And that’s even before mentioning the cast. Jack Nicholson’s
at his most charismatic (and surprisingly, most mentally well balanced), Faye
Dunaway is unforgettably enigmatic and tragic and John Huston oozes into one of
the best screen villains of all time. What Chinatown also captures brilliantly
is a perfect blend of filmmaking generations: the tough and captivating
detective stories of the 1940s, the unflinching and grim moral setting of the
1970s and setting a new tone of style that would prove influential for the
following generations. Again, Chinatown is just flat out perfect.
5. A Clockwork Orange: Now this was a hard one to digest at
first. No good or even redeemable characters, horrific depictions of depravity
and a sense of morality that is incredibly warped. It wouldn’t be until repeat
viewings that I would be able to shake off the initial sense of shock and this
film’s message of a morally bankrupt society and the people it produces. Is it
pleasant, not in any sense of the word, but it definitely stands as a fantastic
science fiction tale of a dystopian society, the type of people it produces and
what happens when a person from that world is made moral. Would we accept
someone that was a monster before, but is reformed? And is he truly reformed or
is it a personality change that is against his will? There are some pretty
rough questions here and it presents them in a very rough manner, but when truly
looked at again, there is no other way this kind of story could be told and
writer/director Stanley Kubrick crafts the perfect movie for the story it’s
telling.
4. Taxi Driver: This is a movie that has just gotten better
every new time I watch it. At first, I really enjoyed it, especially the now
iconic “You talkin’ to me” scene, but repeat viewings have opened my eyes to
just how intricately woven this story truly is. On the surface, it’s a story
about a man who is slowly going out of his mind due to no sleep and a constant
exposure to the seedy side of New York City. He tries going about it the normal
route, getting involved with politics, but he’s not the kind of man who fits in
with normal society. So he decides to become a renegade soldier of the underworld,
being the “real rain that will come to wash the filth from the streets”. But
the movie takes on more metaphysical interpretations from scenes where we
briefly glimpse his persona early on in the film as he walks the streets to the
ending, which can be open for interpretation as to what level of existence it
takes place on. Details like these that elevate a good story to greatness and
Taxi Driver is definitely more than a great movie. On top of that, you have
incredibly memorable performances from Robert DeNiro as the lead character,
Travis Bickle as well as an incredibly daring performance by a teen Jodie
Foster as a teen prostitute. Taxi Driver is a movie you won’t be able to shake
but when it’s over, you won’t want to.
3. Network: “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it
anymore.” A rallying cry from one generation that more than echoes in all
generations since, Network tells the tale of a news reporter that snaps under
the insanity of what the broadcasting world has become and the producers who
look to exploit his on air breakdown. Network goes far beyond being a biting
satire of exploitation and sensationalism and actually becomes a tale of
disconnection. Furthermore, it ends with a scene where you are left to question
who is really pulling the strings in the world and just how far up does it go?
Network is brilliantly crafted filmmaking with razor sharp dialog, flawless
directing and stellar performances from the entire cast. Network may have been
set in the modern world during the 1970s, but it’s story is one that has seemed
to transcend time.
2. Apocalypse Now: Filmmaking was forever changed with this
movie. Editing, sound, cinematography, nearly every aspect of filmmaking to
this day is influenced in some way by Apocalypse Now, a movie, which by all
rights, should have been a disaster. Adapted from the Joseph Conrad novel
Hearts of Darkness, which is set in a South American river during the late
1800s, Coppola adapts the story to a Vietnam era story to tell this tale of
madness. The sets were destroyed by a hurricane, Marlon Brando showed up to the
set nearly 50 pounds heavier than expected and Martin Sheen had a heart attack
during filming. Instead, Coppola turned out a hallucinatory experience that
thrusts the viewer into a world where everything is as lawless and mad as the
person the main character is ordered to terminate. If you’re looking for a
movie that can stand alone as a film school, Apocalypse Now is definitely
required viewing.
1. The Godfather I & II: Okay, maybe I have a weakness
for lumping stories together (see my best of the 2000s list where all three
Lord of the Rings movies were listed as the best of the decade), but Mario
Puzo’s book The Godfather was so rich in detail and story that it took two
movies to tell the entire story. So, to me, these two movies are essentially
the same story, just broken up so it can remain incredibly loyal to the source
material. Crime movies had never been portrayed like this. Before The
Godfather, mobsters were all trench coat wearing, Thompson gun toting thugs,
but Francis Ford Coppola decided to tell this kind of story in an amazing new
way: from the perspective of the mafia family. And the result is quite possibly
one of the best acting ensembles ever assembled in one film. The first one is a
tremendous story about a family that is invested in the organized crime
business, except for one son, Michael, who wanted nothing to do with his family’s
career path, but through his care for his father grows to become the patriarch
figure in the end. Then comes the second part which shows the fallout of
Michael’s decisions after becoming the Don by brilliantly paralleling it with
the story of his father’s rise to power. While his father made the decisions
that he did for the better of his family, Michael’s decisions left him isolated
from his family. Watching The Godfather I and II together is such a powerful
experience that it’s hard for me to imagine one without the other. The second
part just compliments the first part so well that it’s a flawless experience
either watching both parts separately or joined together. I could go on forever
about the details, the subtext, the underlying source material, everything is
just executed so perfectly and it became so influential that it is the true
embodiment of perfect filmmaking in the 1970s.
Ten Favorite Movies from the 1970s
10. Superman: The first major studio superhero film and
still one of the best of all time. Sure, the current summer movie market is
flooded with superhero movies now, but Superman is the one that started it
all…and managed to make Superman an interesting character to watch which is a
common complaint among most comic book fans. But Richard Donner found a way to
not only make the character of Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman so interesting, but
also make a very exciting movie in the process with some of the most state of
the art special effects for its time that still manage to hold up well by
today’s standards.
9. Halloween: Okay, I’m a sucker for horror movies and this
is still one of the best ever made. When I was a teenager, this was so easy to
get lost in the fever pitch momentum of terror this movie built up to with its
climax that it terrified me to my core. As I got older, yes, it still terrifies
me, but now I appreciate the craft that went into this movie. This is the work
of a true artist that was breaking new ground when most horror movies were
content to simply have their screaming naked co-eds. Or did this pave the way
for the movies that followed? Either way, I think it has a place to be
remembered from this decade and it still casts an amazing spell to this day.
8. The Godfather I & II: Okay, I’ve already praised this
movie for how spectacularly it tells its story and how it was made, so now I’m
going to get personal as to why it’s a favorite. I first saw this movie when I
was fifteen and going through my high school phase of learning my identity.
About halfway through this movie, when Michael goes to Italy and that fantastic
Italian guitar theme starts playing, I looked back at my mom and asked, “So,
we’re Italian, right?” She nodded and just said, “Awesome” as I turned back to
the TV and kept watching with a smile on my face. This movie helped me embrace
my heritage, not because of the crime, but because everything was finally
starting to connect for me. It still gives me a sense of heritage pride
whenever I watch it. As The Dude would say, “I dig your style”.
7. Star Wars: Yeah, I had to give this one a shout out. I
grew up on these movies, they grew with me and they are still really fun to
watch (even if the prequels nearly destroyed their ability to be enjoyed). But
this is one that is endlessly fun, a really good send up of all genres from
science fiction to Westerns and a brilliant homage to the films of Akira
Kurosawa. If you want pure escapist fun, it is one of the best even to this
day. If you want a movie that has a light-hearted philosophical sense about it,
it works in that aspect also. People still take the philosophies of this movie
to heart because it’s a great movie to grow up with and use like a fairy tale
morality. I watched it again a few days back and I still get hooked on it
whenever it’s on.
6. Suspiria: This is one of those undiscovered gems that a
friend of mine introduced me to and I fell in love with the moment I saw it.
Like Star Wars, Suspiria creates a fantasy-dream like setting, but the fairy
tale aspect of this is more terrifying like a Grimm fairy tale. The colors are
brilliant and beautiful, which makes for a wonderful parallel of the horrific
scenes that are playing out in the film. And the death scenes, wow! The death
scenes are so graphic and so brutal that they hold up well, even by today’s
standards of Saw and House of 1000 Corpses. It’s one of those underground
discoveries that you’re amazed you found it and you hope that others have seen
also.
5. The Muppet Movie: This is one that just speaks to the
child in me. You better believe that I grew up on The Muppets and this movie is
one that the older I became, the more transcendent it became. While I enjoyed
watching the antics of the Muppets as a child, the story of chasing your
dreams, being true to your friends and staying positive in a world that keeps
throwing obstacles at you is one that seems to ring more and more profoundly
the older I get. Plus, it’s still funny and the music is so heartwarming.
4. Jaws: This movie is just pure fun on every level. If I
want to watch how Avant Garde techniques can be used in a popcorn film, I go to
Jaws. If I want to see a fun white knuckle experience, I go to Jaws. If I want
to watch one of the best examples of what Hollywood entertainment can be, I go
to Jaws. It is one of the most perfect blockbusters of all time and also one of
the best crafted.
3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Hell yeah, I’m a Monty
Python fan! From their insanely off the wall sketch comedy show to all of their
movies, I am always rolling on the ground with hysterical laughter. What introduced
me to this wonderful world was none other than some weird low budget movie
about King Arthur and his quest for the Holy Grail. It took me a while to
comprehend just what madness I was seeing on the screen, but when I finally let
the madness win, I never went back. This is probably one of the most quotable
movies of all time and also one of the most fun.
2. The Exorcist: I am a sucker for horror movies and I still
consider The Exorcist to be the best horror movie ever made. Sorry if this
disappoints anyone, but it’s my choice. This movie affects me to the very
underlying roots of my subconscious, on my levels of faith and fear of the dark
forces in this world that we can’t see. The images conjured up by this movie
still give me chills, the pure suggestion of what this story embodies, I’m
still hesitant to revisit it, but when I do, it’s one of the most pleasant
unpleasant experiences I take.
1. Chinatown: This is just flat out one of my favorite
movies ever, even top ten of all time. I love detective stories, I love noir
films, I love mysteries, I just love everything about this movie. Every scene
is perfection, the dialog is so incredible and watching the story unravel is
still a thrill. I even know exactly what is going to happen in every scene, but
no matter how many times I watch it, it still feels fresh. Even if it’s just me
wanting to relive the excitement of seeing it a first time, that is still the
mark of incredible storytelling when you can want to relive a mystery again and
again and always knowing the outcome. Chinatown is one of the most perfect
movies I’ve ever seen and it has influenced so much of what I enjoy writing and
watching.
Ten I Still Need to See That I Want to See the Most from the
1970s
10. Manhattan: Okay, to clarify, I really didn’t like Woody
Allen when I first saw his movies. My introduction to him was that he would get
his ass kissed by every critic and would always have a screenplay nomination
reserved for him every friggin’ year, regardless of how pretentious and self-serving
they come across. Maybe what repulsed me away from them are the ones where he’s
the main star and his really co-stars drop their pants for him because “he’s so
smart” (Believable). But after seeing Midnight in Paris, I began to re-evaluate
my opinion of Allen, even wanting to go back and watch Annie Hall again. In
fact, I want to check out the ones that I missed because of my horrendous
onslaught of mediocre 80s and 90s Allen movies. (To be fair, Crimes and
Misdemeanors and Bullets over Broadway are actually pretty good.) But topping
that list is Allen’s love letter to New York City itself: Manhattan. So, yeah,
after Midnight in Paris has me excited to checking out his other films. Just so
long as I don’t have to see him on screen that much.
9. Aguirre, the Wrath of God: This is one that kept coming
up on so many best of lists that I would read throughout college. Best of the
year, best of the 70s, best of all time and so forth…and I have no idea what
it’s about or why I have to see it so much. But I usually liked to be surprised
by movies, so I think I’ve intentionally went out of my way not to know much
more about it. I’ll let the surprise of the movie come to me. But, yeah, I know
it’s supposed to be amazing, so I’ll go in knowing only that much about it.
8. Husbands: When I was in the New York Film Academy and
taking my crash course in screenwriting, we watched different scenes of movies
and how they opened. When the opening for this scene came up, it was a series
of still photos of guys being guys by the pool during a party. And it was
captivating. Afterwards, I learned more about John Cassavettes and how he
played such a pivotal role in the early years of independent filmmaking.
Putting together what I saw from the beginning of the film and what I know
about Cassavettes, I instantly stored this one away in the back of my mind to
see.
7. Day for Night: Just the title alone is enough to attract
any filmmaker and to top it off, it’s directed by Francois Truffaut? Count me
in!
6. Last Tango in Paris: Go ahead and imagine what I’ve heard
about this movie. Don’t know about it? Well, it’s an NC-17 film from the
director of The Last Emperor and starring Marlon Brando. Prestige filmmakers
and actors? Check. Lurid subject material that the uptight scoff at? Double
check! So, this is a must see for me!
5. Coming Home: Perhaps my first introduction to what this
movie’s about was a bit souring. The only thing I saw of it was during a
montage during the Oscars where Jon Voight talked about how “there’s no reason
for killing, man”. Yeah, when I hear a guy from the 60s with a long beard end a
sentence with “man”, I cringe. Needless to say, I wasn’t a big fan of 60s war
protesters probably because of the stories I heard about from my mom and dad
during dad’s time in the military which kind of soured me to the hippie
movement. However, a very good friend of mine that worked with me during my
previous job subcontracting for the VA gave this one of her highest
recommendations. So perhaps there’s more to it that I may have overlooked. I
mean, three out of the four acting awards that year went to this movie, so
there may be more to this movie that I don’t know. Heck, she’s never steered me
wrong before and our tastes tend to be VERY close together, so this instantly became
a higher priority.
4. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore/ Mean Streets: Okay, I am
a huge fan of Martin Scorsese and there are some movies of his that I really
regret not seeing, which include his earliest works (and The Last Temptation of
Christ). That being said, I keep hearing fantastic stuff about Mean Streets as
his first breakout movie (and first collaboration with Robert DeNiro) and Alice
Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which earned Ellen Burstyn her only Oscar and I
think she was one of the best actresses of the 1970s. Like Aguirre, the Wrath
of God, I’ve been able to avoid knowing too much about these movies and I do
have them, so one day. One day…
3. Breaking Away: This is a movie that keeps picking up
momentum the more I hear about it (while trying to avoid hearing too much about
it). I know it’s about bicycle racing and it’s a coming of age story as well as
a sort of sports film, so there’s nothing about this movie that I don’t find
incredibly intriguing. Not to mention how many lists I’ve been seeing this pop
up on lately, including 1979’s Best Picture race. So, yeah, this one is quickly
becoming one of my most anticipated movies to see.
2. Five Easy Pieces: Jack Nicholson orders a sandwich. I
keep hearing that one of the best scenes in movie history is Jack Nicholson
ordering a sandwich. Not to mention this is one of the most revered movies from
the decade of the 1970s, the selling point is Jack Nicholson ordering a
sandwich? I can’t begin to tell you how much this makes me wish my old Hollywood
Video was still around so I could look for this in their classics section.
1. The Last Picture Show: Speaking of movies that are
considered some of the most revered movies of the 1970s, if I had to pick one
movie that I consider to be one of the biggest crimes that I haven’t seen of
this decade, it would be this one. Every review I’ve read is a four star
review, it popped up on the AFI’s 100 best movies of all time, it’s a Best
Picture nominee, its reputation is one of the most pristine I’ve seen of a movie’s.
And considered the best movie by Peter Bogdonovich? There isn’t anything about
this movie that makes me not want to grab all of my filmmaker friends and have
a popcorn screening of this movie tonight. The only thing stopping me…is the
busy schedule of a man in his 30s trying to get a career started for himself.
But, oh, to relive those marathon nights again…
